AT&T Has Me Backed Into A Corner!

[femurphy77]

With the rapidly rising costs of everything I find myself looking at opportunities to save some coin. Having seen many entertaining Mint Mobile commercials we decided to take the plunge. Comparing the two; Mint was going to provide the same service with a somewhat abbreviated coverage area, for ~$100/3 months vs AT&T for ~$450/3 months.

The transfer of the wife's phone went relatively smoothly and she reports that the service and speeds are no different than that provided by AT&T.

The problem started on the transfer of my number; after requesting the unlock code and being told various stories including it can't be unlocked, it is unlocked, there is no code for that model back to it is unlocked. Yesterday 3 different phone calls told me that it was unlocked so I initiated the transfer to Mint. Of course at this point they ask for the unlock code.

Now the phone won't work on Mint because it's locked and AT&T is back to insisting that it isn't. I can't go back to AT&T because they closed my account immediately upon number transfer. Of course they can open me a new account and it's only about $20 more per month than I have been paying oh and it will require a new phone but they'll allow me to pay it out over time.

I guess at this point it's to the open market to find a phone that'll work on Mint. THAT should be entertaining!

Rant mode off.

 

[eric001]

WAY back in the day when we transferred from Sprint over to Verizon, I had something of the same issue. I talked to a Verizon rep, who actually called in to a Sprint rep, and they collectively made it work.

Have you tried something similar?? Other than getting a Mint person to work with an AT&T person, I'd suggest going up the line of AT&T managers until you get the problem solved on their end...or end up threatening legal action, though I doubt if they'd even care about that.

Either way, Good Luck!!!

 

[Cameramonkey]

is it an iphone? With ATT you can do an automated unlock.

Check the IMEI to see if its locked

Unlock Your Phone or Device - AT&T Device Unlock

Quickly check the status of your device unlock request. All you need is your device IMEI and unlock request number.

www.att.com

if its locked, use the unlock tool

Unlock Your Phone or Device - AT&T Device Unlock

Review the eligibility requirements and submit a request to unlock your phone or device.

www.att.com

 

[wtburnette]

Sounds like a PITA. Sorry to hear it. Hopefully one of the above will help. Otherwise hopefully you can find a phone you like that works with Mint without any issues.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Oh, and I feel your pain. Straight talk had my phone I own outright carrier locked as if I had bought from them (and still owed them). But there was no reason for the lock because I didnt buy the phone from them. It was my old phone from work that I unlocked personally to use it on ST before signing up with them. It showed online as locked, but when I asked them, they claimed it wasnt. ATT confirmed it WAS locked, but not by them.
When I tried switching away from Straight Talk for my wife, they were a literal nightmare. They wont TELL you what your account number is so you can give it to your new carrier. It doesnt appear anywhere. If you happen to know its the IMEI number and tell it to them, they will confirm if its correct. They claim its for security, but they use 2 factor so you have already been verified. Its stonewalling plain and simple. They do everything they can to stop you from leaving.

And to make matters worse, its actually the IMEI of the FIRST SIM you registered. So if you have changed sim cards (got a new phone that needed a different type) the IMEI on your new phone doesnt match the account number. It took me over a week and literally over a dozen phone calls before I could escape ST with my phone number. Luckily I still had the first phone I used with them and was able to give that number to Patriot Mobile and get it transferred.

EDIT: And I cant recommend Patriot Mobile enough. They are rockstars. All domestic support from either TX or SC. No mumblemouth english as a second language agents.

 

[Usmccookie]

I'm just here to see what you think of mint.. I have been thinking about. These bills are getting outrageous

 

[marvin02]

@femurphy77 - I have 3 or 4 unlocked Android phones that I can give you. I'm an AT&T customer so all should work for you. PM me if interested.

 

[Snapdragon]

I'm just here to see what you think of mint.. I have been thinking about. These bills are getting outrageous

I have had Mint since November of last year and have had zero issues.

 

[mrw]

I have Mint and Cricket. Mint uses T Mobile network and Cricket uses AT&T (they are owned by ATT). I switched from ATT to Cricket and saved a ton of money. AT&T network is loads better than T Mobile in coverage and speed.

 

[wtburnette]

What network does Patriot use? Considering switching from Straight Talk to them. I'm on the ATT network with ST currently. Keep getting pestered to order a Verizon SIM, which I'd do, except they have me pissed off texting and emailing me about it constantly.

 

[Cameramonkey]

What network does Patriot use? Considering switching from Straight Talk to them. I'm on the ATT network with ST currently. Keep getting pestered to order a Verizon SIM, which I'd do, except they have me pissed off texting and emailing me about it constantly.

They default to Tmobile, but you can request ATT. We had weird issues so they shipped us new ATT sims for free.

And make sure you have PLENTY of time to swap. Start the number porting several weeks before your next billing period. We literally finished the port the day before I would get billed for another month of service. (even though I started the process 10 days prior)

You sign up for service, they ship you new SIM card(s) (3-5 days) and then you activate/port the number. SO I'd actually start the process 3 weeks out if you want to keep your number

 

[wtburnette]

I'll look into it, thanks.

 

[Cameramonkey]

What network does Patriot use? Considering switching from Straight Talk to them. I'm on the ATT network with ST currently. Keep getting pestered to order a Verizon SIM, which I'd do, except they have me pissed off texting and emailing me about it constantly.

And that is why we switched. Only they did worse to Mrs Monkey.

Straight Talk can DIAF

So Verizon bought Straight Talk wireless. A week ago my wife who is a customer on their ATT network got a text: "We are now part of the Verizon family. If you would like to switch to Verizon towers, call this number." Same message when we logged into her account. Sounds voluntary, right? No...

www.indianagunowners.com

 

[wtburnette]

Yeah, I had read that. Hope I don't have a similar experience.

 

[churchmouse]

With the rapidly rising costs of everything I find myself looking at opportunities to save some coin. Having seen many entertaining Mint Mobile commercials we decided to take the plunge. Comparing the two; Mint was going to provide the same service with a somewhat abbreviated coverage area, for ~$100/3 months vs AT&T for ~$450/3 months.

The transfer of the wife's phone went relatively smoothly and she reports that the service and speeds are no different than that provided by AT&T.

The problem started on the transfer of my number; after requesting the unlock code and being told various stories including it can't be unlocked, it is unlocked, there is no code for that model back to it is unlocked. Yesterday 3 different phone calls told me that it was unlocked so I initiated the transfer to Mint. Of course at this point they ask for the unlock code.

Now the phone won't work on Mint because it's locked and AT&T is back to insisting that it isn't. I can't go back to AT&T because they closed my account immediately upon number transfer. Of course they can open me a new account and it's only about $20 more per month than I have been paying oh and it will require a new phone but they'll allow me to pay it out over time.

I guess at this point it's to the open market to find a phone that'll work on Mint. THAT should be entertaining!

Rant mode off.

It is a scam if the highest order and they all play but AT&T is the worst

 

[MCgrease08]

I've been using Mint for three years now and I highly recommend it. I have the $15 prr month plan which gets me unlimited talk and text with 4GB of data. I am usually on WiFi, and I've only gone over that maybe twice in 3 years.

It's great to pay less than $200 for a full year of service and I just buy cheap unlocked smart phones outright off Amazon every 2-3 years as needed.

 

[AndreusMaximus]

Man, I am just so glad that my life situation doesn't require me to have a cell phone. So much money and trouble saved.

 

[BigRed]

This is the kind is stuff I keep my better half out of. A situation like that described in the OP could very well end with a phone shoved up the employee's ***.

 

[femurphy77]

is it an iphone? With ATT you can do an automated unlock.

Check the IMEI to see if its locked

Unlock Your Phone or Device - AT&T Device Unlock

Quickly check the status of your device unlock request. All you need is your device IMEI and unlock request number.

www.att.com

if its locked, use the unlock tool

Unlock Your Phone or Device - AT&T Device Unlock

Review the eligibility requirements and submit a request to unlock your phone or device.

www.att.com

Yeah I've done all of that, requested unlock 4 times online and all are "in the process".

 

[Shadow01]

I retired from at&t in 2015. They are the absolute worst. As the loosing carrier they have zero incentive to help you and they won’t. The other issue you run into at least before I left is all reps are expected to maintain sales goals. You call in to cancel and if they can’t change your mind the loss comes off their monthly sales total. I have heard stories that these reps are not above submarining the account and messing up the ability to port your number since they take the hit on their sales totals. I have no proof of this, but I would hear the same story many times over the years when I was there. You may be better off to buy a new phone outright from a electronic store and put your mint SIM card in that new phone. If T fubared your account before the porting process completed you could lose your number with absolutely no way to get it back.